Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-12-12
FORMS OF SWEARING.
VARIOUS FACTS ABOUT oATHs, AN.
GENT AND MODERN.

Forms Used Among the Hebrews-Chs
Ostysk. In stberia-How the Greeks
and Romans swore--Frofanity of Ameri-
cans--frepch Kings.
The oath was originally All appeal tc
| divine authority TO ratify al assertion.
The cid Greek gods swore by the Styx,
and Jehovah is represented in the early
books Of the Bible as swearing by himself,
there being none higher The forms Of
oath among the Hebrews were; by the
sod OF Abraham, God do SO unto me-"
and more also, God knoweth,n with
ther appeals Of similar character
Oaths were originally taken for the
performance of certain acts, TO pledge
allegiance to sovereign, to pledge -
sovereign TO the performance cf his duty
to his people, or TO accomplish judicial
purposes. The witness lifted his hands
TO heaven or laid one hand on the head Of
the accused. Persons making promises
10 one another laid their hands on one
another's thighs. Oaths We're taken be-
fore the altar, as the place most sacred.
In Assam, in farther India, two persons
desiring 10 affirm with great solemnity
take IA fowl or dog, one by the head the
other by the tail The Ostyaks i'll Siberia
when brought into court swear by the
head of a bear, making n motion with tho
jaws, and expressing the hope that they
may be devoured if they speak falsely.
oATHs OF ANCIENT TIMES.
In ancient times il was considered e,-
sentlal to the validity of an oath that the
witness should hold something in his
hand, or place his hand on some object
Of great sanctity. With the Jews it Was
the book Of the law, which led To the use
o. the Bible in Christian courts The
Bedouin Arabs have from ancient times
used various forms of adjura,iop. One
Of these was by the Temple" One still
in use is rs follows: The person taking
.he oath takes hold Of the middi. pole of
the tent and swears by the life of the
tent and its owners. Nohammei swore
by the Setting of the stars, the most
pOetical oath on record, though hardly so
magnificent as the oft quoted adjuration
Of William the Conqueror, by the splen-
dor Of God" Roman uaths were made
with great solemnity and elaboration. Ia
Roman mythology Juno, making "A prom
ise to sleep. is represented as taking
heaven in one hand and the earth IN tho
other. Greeks and Romans swore by
their gods, by the StyX, by Olympus, by
hell, by their sacred springs or rivers. hy
the sun and moon. Their oaths wer,
valuable III the early days Of the republic
but worthless after they became corrupt
Oaths lost their sanciity and became col
loquial or profane among the Jews at an
early date. Greek ladies swore daintily
by Venus, Diana and Juno. and now and
then by some of the male gods whose
names We're taken in vain 10y their liece
lords. The Romans swore by Jupiter,
Hercules and their other numerous deities.
Their women initiated those of Greece
There has always been the danger of
making the oath too common, and thus
destroying its sanctity. Though this has
made perjury easy, it scarcely explains
how judicial or other forms of swearing
gradually lost their dignity and became a
part Of the everyday speech of men and
women. la the edrIy days of Christianity
Oaths were regarded with a superstitious
reverence that made them binding. They
lost their force III the Middle Ages SO
completely that il was thought necessary
to supply their place with the trial by
combat, contact with rcdhot iron, and
'oi ytHitisti tAptlitHtS 10
compel criminal TO prove his innocence
During the Dark Ages profane swearing
figured among the lost arts In due time |
it had its renaissance and arrived at its |
present perfection, with vocabulary if |
not a literature of its own. The English |
have been greatly given to profanity since !
an early period in their history. Henry |
the Eighth swore often and vulgarly, and |
his daughter swore like trooper The |
profane American usually calls ON God |
to anathematize some person or some |
object which has offended. or simply ana |
,hematizes his eyes or some other part Of |
his person. The profanity that is some
what refined in social centers becomes |
coarse and occasionally picturesque e. |
the frontier. The oaths of the rural New |
OF Of his rural descendants ir
other states, by gosh" and " golIy,"
are without doubt corruptions of the more |
mediieva! appeals TO the Supreme |
Being.
oArHs OF FRENCH MoNARCHs
Louis IN, of France SO superstitiously |
devout in his old age swore by Gods |
Resurrection. Charles VIII swore by the |